Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Xbox)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the second of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' video games. Synopsis Buffy has a prophetic dream about The Master and three powerful demons. Unbeknownst to her, the dream was brought on by the fact that Spike has reformed the Order of Aurelius, including members Malik and Scylla who plot to resurrect The Master once again. Since Buffy has already smashed the Master's bones to dust following the previous attempt at reviving him, the vampires first go about summoning Matereani, The Necromancer. Late at night at Sunnydale High, Buffy is doing cheerleading practise with Cordelia when the lights suddenly go off due to a vampire attack. Buffy proceeds to turn the power back on in the basement, killing vampires along the way, where Giles then contacts her via the speaker as the vampire Malik is searching through the library. Although Buffy attempts to stop him, Malik steals a book on spirit-channeling and leaves from out the skylight following a brief-fight. At the sunken church, Spike uses the book to summon the Old One Laibach of the Abyss who possesses Drusilla and tells the vampires that they must get fresh human sacrifices for the resurrection ritual. While partying at the Bronze, the patrons are attacked by the Order who take a number of hostages, including Willow. Buffy chases after the kidnappers outside the Bronze, through the alleyways and into the Cemetery. Buffy manages to rescue Willow from the clutches of Scylla, briefly fighting her inside a mausoleum before she flees into a secret passageway. After taking Willow home, Buffy enters the passageway into the catacombs which leads her to the sunken church where the Master's lair was located. Just as Buffy arrives at the altar, the hostages are already sacrificed and the ritual is near completetion. Buffy battles with Matereani and his zombie minions, and even though she slays Matereani, he nonetheless manages to bring the Master back as a ghost, much to Buffy's horror. Shortly afterwards, the Scooby Gang agree to consult Angel, the only one who could possibly know what exactly Spike is up to. Giles also starts research on the demons from Buffy's dream. Unfortunately, several vampires abduct Angel out of his mansion despite Buffy's best efforts to stop them. After fighting Scylla in her demonic-snake form and barely defeating her by exposing her to sunlight, Buffy encounters a strangely-behaved Angel, ultimately discovering that the Master's spirit has taken over Angel's body. Just as Spike and Malik arrive, Buffy escapes. The Master then initiates a plan to gather the three Dreamers, the demons from the dream; Urd, Skuld, and Verdandi. With their combined reality-altering powers, the Master can restore his own body and proceed with his original plan of opening the Hellmouth. Fortunately, Buffy is able to intercept the crate containing one of the Dreamers at the local docks and destroy it. With only two Dreamers left, the Master reformulates his plan. Using a mixture of blood and steel, he can combine the remaining Dreamers' powers into a powerful weapon. While he is setting this plan in motion, he sends Malik to deal with the Slayer by planting a bomb in Sunnydale High School. Buffy defuses the bomb and fights Malik, who was already furious over the death of his girlfriend (and fellow shapeshifter) Scylla. Buffy defeats Malik in his were-sabertooth form but as she is walking away, Malik unleashes one final, desperate attack. Caught off-guard, Buffy is saved in the nick of time by Spike, who stakes Malik from behind with a long shaft of wood. Back in the library, Spike explains the situation: he is being forced into bringing back the Master by Laibach of the Abyss, an Old One who has taken control of Drusilla's body and threatens to destroy her mind, leaving her in a vegetative state if Spike disobeys him. Laibach plans to bring an army of demons to Earth, and needs both the Master and the Dreamers to do so with the Dreamers warping reality to create the bridge and the Master's expertise in opening portals used to help. Due to his dislike of being an errand boy, and his own distrust of the Master, Spike has betrayed the Order to strike up a deal with the Scooby Gang: he will help Buffy defeat the Master once more, she will help him save Drusilla, and then Spike and Drusilla will again depart Sunnydale and be out of Buffy's hair. Buffy agrees to the deal on the grounds that Spike does not harm Angel. Giles and Willow formulate a spell to exorcise the Master from Angel's body and also protect Angel, Drusilla and Spike from being possessed. Armed with the spell and her trusty Reaper blade, Buffy and Spike set off to destroy the Master for the final time. After fighting through the old foundry, Buffy and Willow are able to free Angel from the Master's control, while Xander and Giles successfully exorcise Laibach from Drusilla, although the Master himself is able to 'retreat' back to his old lair in spirit form. Spike leaves, but the Master survives and thus Laibach's plan is not defeated. Buffy is able to destroy the Dreamers in a confrontation in their realm, and then, using a spell discovered by Giles, the other Scoobies are able to make the Master corporeal again, allowing Buffy to stake him once more. The destruction of the Dreamers causes the sunken church to cave in, though Buffy is rescued by her friends. In the Epilogue, Buffy and the gang are at the Bronze. Willow asks Buffy why she is feeling down and Buffy says it's because she didn't make the cheerleading squad. Upon seeing a vampire exiting with an unwary girl, Buffy gets out her stake and continues her duties, commenting "I'd like to see those pom-pom girls try making my squad." '' Continuity *The Master was previously the big bad of ''Buffy ''season 1, having been killed in the final and nearly resurrected in the series premiere of the second season. These events are mentioned in the game. *The events of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" are referenced as Xander recalls when Drusilla was in love with him to annoy Spike who belittled the remark by reminding him that she was under a spell at the time. *Buffy saves the school from being blown up by a bomb. Ironically, she'll end up blowing up the school anyway several months later during "Graduation". *Spike mentions the events of "Becoming Part One & Two", referring back to how he didn't like Angelus' plan to open Acathla's hell dimension, feeling the same to Laibach's plan. *At the second gang meeting, after the raid at the school, Willow mentions that Principal Snyder confirmed the incident was caused by PCP and Buffy wonders if such a substance is still produced. This refers back to the season two episode "School Hard" wherein Spike and his minions attacked the school, only for Snyder and the police to claim the cause was gang-related PCP. *Despite being a main character in the third season, Oz is not present in the game. Willow does mention though that Oz is away on a gig. Appearances The Scooby Gang *Buffy *Xander *Willow *Cordelia *Giles *Angel Bosses *Malik (first and seventh boss) *Scylla (third and fifth boss) *Matereani (the Necromancer) (fourth boss) *Spike (second boss) *Laibach of the Abyss *The Dreamers: Urd, Skuld and Verdandi (sixth, tenth and eleventh boss) *The Master (and eighth and twelfth boss) *Dark Buffy (ninth boss) Enemies *Vampires *Hell Hounds *Zombies *Demonic Spiders *Demonic Zombies *Hanoch demons *Siren demons Cast *David Boreanaz: Angel *Nicholas Brendon: Xander Harris *Charisma Carpenter: Cordelia Chase *D. C. Douglas: The Master *Alyson Hannigan: Willow Rosenberg *Anthony Stewart Head: Rupert Giles *Giselle Loren: Buffy Summers *James Marsters: Spike Behind the Scenes *This project started as a PlayStation game, but development was moved to the Sega Dreamcast and Windows. These version were later scrapped, and development was moved to the Xbox. *Buffy cannot swim in this game. She dies instantly if she falls into deep water. *There are many doors in this game that Buffy cannot enter since they are locked (with Buffy quipping from time to time "One day I'm gonna find a door that's not only unlocked but open. It's called faith, look it up"). In the series, it's established that as the Slayer, Buffy is well-in her abilities to break open doors and this she only able to door this once in the game. *The game starts with a variation of the expository narrative that was featured in the early Buffy episodes, as well as a variation on the opening titles sequence. However, both of these are made up of game footage. *When in the Sunnydale High School library, you can see a diploma hanging on the wall with a "Whatever" title on it. *Sarah Michelle Gellar was originally asked to voice Buffy in this game, but she declined because they refused to let her see the script. *After Malik's initial attack on Giles and subsequent battle with Buffy, one of the conversations with Giles reveals that Buffy has returned to cheerleading, but Giles has no problem with it as long as it doesn't interfere with her duties. Buffy then remarks, "I like this alternate universe Giles. Is the old one coming back?", to which Giles replies, "Don't be ridiculous, Buffy. The alternate universe Giles has a beard." This is most likely a reference to the Mirror Universe of the Star Trek franchise, in which that world's version of Spock sports a goatee. Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors *It is possible to kill the big, tough vampire in The Bronze by depleting his life and staking him in the ground. However, when the player tries to escape, he is alive again. *When you fight against Angel in the hidden multiplayer mode, Buffy will say lines referring to The Master, not Angel (though Angel was possessed by The Master in single-player mode). *The intro incorrectly credits The Powers That Be for the creation of the slayer. *Most, if not all vampires will continue to talk after they die and turn to dust. *The majority of the doors in the game are locked and thus cannot be accessed (to the point that Buffy may comment on their abundance), while it's established in the show that Buffy is perfectly capable of knocking down doors and breaking locks with ease. Gameplay In this game, the player takes control as Buffy Summers and is tasked in each level a specific goal to progress in the story. Such goals include solving puzzles, defeating enemies or simply crossing to the next level via platform-type travel. As the Slayer, the Buffy can preform several hand-to-hand combos to decrease the health bars of her enemies, however, when an enemy's health bar reaches zero, Buffy may have to execute a killing move to finish them off before they regain at least some health (For example, staking a vampire after beating it). This also applies to Buffy and her enemies who will tend to preform a special "death animation" (such as vampire draining her blood or a demon breaking her neck). Aside from this, Buffy is also vulnerable to hazards such as falling down long distances, falling into molten fire, drowning or getting hit by a train. If Buffy were to die, the player would be presented with the option to "Resurrect", which will take them back to the start of the level, or to "Quit", which takes the player to the menu. Buffy can also use an assortment of weapons such as stakes, crossbows and holy water against enemies. Throughout the game, the player will encounter a number of human civilians who play victim to Buffy's enemies. If the player manages to save them, Buffy can receive collectables from them such as elixirs or vials, however, some cannot be saved no matter the player's choice or effort. Below her health bar, Buffy has a bar showing her 'slayer power'. Slayer power allows her to preform attacks with more damage and effect, though slayer power does decrease as the player uses it, and can be regained by collecting purple balls of energy which appear once an enemy is killed. There are also pink balls of energy that give health though they only show if Buffy defeats an enemy and is low on health. In most levels, there are 'secrets' which are special items that are well hidden and usually include potions and special crystals. The pause menu shows the number of secrets in a level and the number that the player has found. The game goes through a course of sections which pretty much encompasses a certain location in Sunnydale, and these sections are divided into levels where the player's progress is auto-saved between each level. Most sections of the game are split in between gang meetings in the school library where a cut scene takes place and then a period where the player is unable to preform attacks but is free to enter dialogue with fellow Scoobies as well as collect items and power-ups such as weapons from Xander, health boosts from Willow and combat training pages from Giles. The game can be played with three difficulties: easy, normal and hard. These settings affect factors such as enemies' fighting ability and the amount of damage they take. It also effects the abundance of potions and how easily weapons can be dropped out of Buffy's hand if she were to be knocked down. Levels Collectables Weapons *'Stakes' are the most commonly found weapon in the game and can break after extensive use. Buffy is given an unbreakable one at the starting tutorial, but by the second point in the game stakes can be obtained all over an area, often being the result of smashing wooden objects such as boxes to form a stake. Stakes can be used to stab enemies but they can also be thrown from a distance. There are three different stake models; a smooth one that can be found all other the game, a thinner one which forms from broken spears, and a broken-looking one that is rarely found. Only five can be carried at a time. *'Normal objects', such as a shovel, baseball bat, dusting broom, sledge hammer or axe, can be used as melee weapons as well as being used for stabbing and decapitation. Like stakes, a melee weapon's condition will decrease and go through a process of drepreciation (first a rake may break down into a spear and then eventually into a stake which breaks down into nothing). Buffy can only hold one of these weapons at a time and must drop it if the player wishes to use another. *One of the main weapons in Buffy's inventory is the crossbow, which allows the player to snipe at enemies from a distance. It is given to Buffy at the tutorial with unlimited bolts, though is later given to her again by Xander at the first gang meeting. Unlike stakes, the crossbow's condition cannot degrade, however, bolts are limited but can be found all over the game. Combining hellfire and holy water can also upgrade the bolts, into either "Hellfire Bolts" 'and '"Blessed Bolts" that cause more damage. Buffy can only carry a number of 20 bolts at a time. *The Water Gun XVS, specially modified by Xander, allows Buffy to fire both hellfire and holy water, separately through two different canisters. As well as defeating enemies, this gun can take out magical barriers with the holy water and burn tough spider webs with the hellfire. Just like the crossbow, the water gun cannot degrade in condition though the holy water and hellfire storage can individually run out (100% to 0). It can, however, be refilled by vials of both hellfire and holy water as well as special fountains consisting of those substances. It is given to Buffy by Xander at the second gang meeting. *The Reaper is a two-sided, bladed, handheld weapon that is given to Buffy by Giles at the fourth gang meeting. This weapon can cause extra damaged as a melee weapon and can decapitate foes to kill them. It never degrades in condition and at the very last gang meeting, it is upgraded to the "Reaper Wing", meaning it can be swung at enemies from afar at the cost of slayer power. Potions In the game, the player can find special potions that they can use in the fight against evil. Buffy may only carry 9 potions at a time. *'Basic health elixirs' regain lost health if Buffy is injured. These elixirs can be upgraded into "Holy Elixirs" with holy water which can regain lost health as well as slayer power. *'Hellfire Vials' and Holy Water Vials can be thrown at enemies as well as serve other functions like destroying barriers, refueling the water gun and upgrading crossbow bolts. Holy Water is better at killing vampires, while hellfire works on all enemies to an equal degree. Crystals In the game, magic crystals are scattered all over Sunnydale and collecting them will allow Buffy to return them to Willow to boost her abilities. *'Health Crystals' are colored pink and are used to lengthen Buffy's health bar. *'Energy Crystals' are colored purple and are used to lengthen Buffy's slayer power bar. Aside from the above, there are also special quest-related items such as keys, electric passes and talismans that are necessary for Buffy to progress in the game. Multiplayer Mode While Buffy the Vampire Slayer was advertised as a single-player game, it has a hidden multiplayer mode, apparently for debugging purposes. This can accessed by putting in cheat codes in the "Extras" menu where a demonic scream would sound if the cheat was successful. There are a total of 4 multiplayer arenas where another player can join in by pressing "start" on a second controller which places them in control of an enemy character. They can alternate between multiple enemies by pressing the start button again and can exit by pressing the "back" button. As an additional feature, the multiplayer mode can be carried over in the main story if the play had previously used it at the arenas. The first two arenas take place in areas explored in the main story and the other two take place totally new areas. Buffy is given a set number of enemies to defeat; coming in the form of a single boss, multiple axillary enemies, Dark Buffy and a final boss that appears at the end. Enemy types are fought separately and spawned by activating one of the four differently colored rings situated around the arena, before the final boss appears once all the rings have been defeated. There have numerous weapons, vials and potions scattered around the arena that can be used by the player and their enemies. External links *[http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/542509p1.html Review of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (XBox) at GameSpy] *Interviews with publisher [http://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=2790 Fox Interactive] and developer [http://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=1155 The Collective] at Gaming Target Category:Games